Dioubate Leads No. 9 Kentucky Past Eastern Illinois

Mo Dioubate scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as No. 9 Kentucky blasted Eastern Illinois 99-52 on Friday night at Rupp Arena.

Denzel Aberdeen scored 13, Otega Oweh had 12, while Andrija Jelavic and Malachi Moreno each had 11 points.

Kentucky (3-1) scored the first points of the game on a Dioubate dunk. After an EIU bucket, UK got baskets from Brandon Garrison, Oweh and Dioubate to lead 8-2. When Garrison slammed home a lob pass from Aberdeen, then scored on the block, the Cats led 12-2.

A Jasper Johnson three extended the lead and completed a 13-0 UK run. EIU would hit consecutive threes to cut into the UK lead, but another Dioubate bucket made it 17-8.

EIU hit another three before Moreno scored in the lane to build the lead to eight. After a Panthers’ layup, Jelavic hit a three to make it 22-13, starting what would be a 13-0 run. A Trent Noah three, two Moreno free throws, another Noah three, and an Aberdeen dunk made up the streak that gave UK a 32-13 lead.

After an Eastern Illinois basket, Collin Chandler hit a three and later a free throw to extend the UK lead to 36-15. Those would be the first points in a 10-0 run that extended the lead to 42-15. EIU would get the next basket, but Kentucky got a three-point play from Moreno and a layup from Noah to lead 47-17. UK would lead 47-19 at the half and Dioubate would lead all scorers with 10.

Kentucky got two buckets from Oweh to start the second half, extending the lead to 51-19. A little later, the Cats would go on a 12-0 run, including threes from Aberdeen and Kam Williams to stretch the lead to 65-23.

EIU would score the next five before another Williams three made it 68-28. The Panthers scored five in a row before Dioubate scored four straight to give UK a 72-33 advantage.

The final score would be the largest margin in the game.

Kentucky returns to action on Tuesday night, facing Michigan State in the State Farm Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on ESPN.